


Running Late

by ghost_like



Series: 31 Days of Halloween 2k18 [2]
Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Blood, Body Horror, Cannibalism, F/F, Gore, Horror, Possession, Was this inspired by Jennifer's Body? Yes.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-24 01:03:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16170422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghost_like/pseuds/ghost_like
Summary: When she checked her phone for ‘nth’ time and saw the little digital number on the screen showing 2:47, Seulgi knew that was a good moment to start panicking. There had been no text, no call, no smoke signal or mail pigeon from Joohyun.





	Running Late

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first time writing a red velvet fic... i'm sorry in advance.
> 
> second prompt for my daily halloween challenge! the prompt this time was "demons".
> 
> enjoy! and again, i'm sorry

Seulgi was in love with her roommate. She was aware of it, had been so for a while - in fact, ever since she first laid eyes on Joohyun she knew she was done for.

It wasn’t something she went around advertising, though. Of course not, that would be ridiculous; the most it would do for her was have Joohyun laugh at her face and reject her right off the bat. It wasn’t worth it to risk the good relationship they had for the sake of a very slim chance of having her feelings returned.

Joohyun was— She was everything. From her gorgeous smile to the way she was able to make men quiver with a single glare, Joohyun was something straight out of Seulgi’s fantasies. But she was also kind, hardworking, intelligent... _And_ she was a great cook, which was really the cherry on top of that very enticing cake.

Another thing Joohyun was, however, was punctual. Every night, she would get home a little before ten o’clock, have a light dinner, take a quick shower, and be in bed before midnight. _Always_. In the odd occurrence she arrived home late, it would not be out of a wish of hers, but something out of her control - the bus broke down, she got stuck at work, had to run a last-minute errand; in situations like those, Joohyun would message Seulgi letting her know why she was running late and give her an ETA.

_Always._

So when she checked her phone for ‘nth’ time and saw the little digital number on the screen showing 2:47, Seulgi knew that was a good moment to start panicking. There had been no text, no call, no smoke signal or mail pigeon from Joohyun. She was so settled in that routine of knowing when Joohyun was getting home that she just couldn’t fall asleep without that knowledge, without being sure she was safe within the sturdy walls of their apartment, right in the next room, tucked in her bed with a book.

Her mind began zapping through every worst possible scenario, from Joohyun being in an accident to her having been kidnapped or murdered, because nothing else made sense. Joohyun wasn’t one for spontaneous outings and as far as Seulgi was aware, Joohyun didn’t do one night stands either - and in the off chance she did, she would have let Seulgi know.

Joohyun was careful. Joohyun was even paranoid, at times; she wouldn’t just disappear into the night without a word, without warning  _someone_ of her whereabouts.

2:48. Seulgi took a deep breath and dialed Joohyun’s number again. How many times she had tried, she’d lost count a long time ago - likely the same amount of times the calls went straight to voicemail. It was no different that time, and Seulgi heaved a shaky breath, phone gripped tight between her trembling hands. What should be her next step? The police? They wouldn’t be of any help, a person can only be reported missing after 48 hours. Should she try her luck calling hospitals then? Joohyun’s family and friends? Should she go out herself and brave the night searching for her missing roommate?

Just then, a noise called her back to the present, had her straining her ears and holding her breath to make sure she’d really heard it. Keys, the door opening and closing with a loud _bang_. Yes. Yes, Joohyun was back.

Seulgi tossed her phone aside carelessly, lucky that it fell on her bed and not the floor, and rushed out of her room. The living room was dark, the only lighting source the yellow lamp posts outside. She could make out the outline of the furniture, the couch, the TV, the bookshelf on the far side. No sign of Joohyun.

But she couldn’t have imagined the sound of the door - she heard it. Definitely, she heard it.

“Joohyun?” she called into the darkness, taking unsure footsteps forward. “Joohyun, are you home?”

There was only silence in response. Seulgi was about to start thinking she was going mad, or that maybe she’d heard a neighbor coming home, when there was a rustle and a faint light coming from the kitchen. She jolted with shock and hope, heart going rabbit-fast inside her chest as she padded to the source of the noise, shivering slightly when her bare feet touched the cold tiles.

“Joohyun, is that you?”

The kitchen’s lights were also turned off, the source of the light being the open refrigerator. She could see Joohyun’s shoes under the space between the fridge door and the floor, and immediately she felt relief. She was home. Joohyun was home.

“Joohyun?” she called again, taking a couple more steps into the room. “Joohyun, where have you been all this time? I was worried.”

No reply came, only that frantic rustling like Joohyun was searching for something inside the fridge. Seulgi frowned, again awash with worry - that was also not typical Joohyun behavior. Joohyun didn’t rummage through things in that manner, and she always replied when Seulgi asked her a question. Something was wrong.

Step after wary step, Seulgi rounded the fridge, jumping when she heard something falling on the floor, the sound echoing in the walls. A thick, pink substance began trickling down the fridge, running through the tiles - strawberry yogurt.

Steeling her heart against whatever she was about to witness, Seulgi took the last few steps, Joohyun’s back coming into view; she was crouched down, upper body all but shoved inside the fridge as she dug through its contents, searching, searching, searching for something.

“Joohyun?” she called, and Joohyun— _Growled_.

Seulgi felt a cold chill run down her spine.

Slowly, Joohyun rose to her feet, head hanging forward. Seulgi wanted to move ahead, check if she was alright, but every instinct was telling her to run, run far away and not look back. She could see how Joohyun was trembling, _twitching_ even, fingers curved towards her palms like claws. Against the light of the fridge, Seulgi could see enough to know Joohyun’s hands were dirty, like she’d been digging through the dirt and had not washed her hands after, fingernails crusted with black earth. Her clothes, always pristine and well ironed, not a stain on them, were ripped, rumpled and dirty, a good amount of skin showing through several tears.

The skin was smeared with red.

Seulgi gasped, hands coming up to cover her mouth to keep herself from screaming. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong.

Joohyun turned to her as if in slow motion, and Seulgi held her breath in anticipation. She didn’t want to see Joohyun’s face, while also wanting desperately to see it - she needed to look into her eyes and know she was alright, but she knew deep inside her heart that Joohyun was anything but alright.

Seulgi didn’t have any time to brace herself, for from slow-motion Joohyun lunged at her in inhuman speed, trapping her against the counter and nosing at the side of her neck. Seulgi squeaked, not having in her not even to scream for help.

Joohyun made a noise deep inside her throat, an odd gurgling noise that sounded pleased. Seulgi wasn’t sure if that was a good thing.

“J-Joohyun, what are you doing?” she asked, voice an octave higher than normal.

Joohyun hummed and sighed. “You smell so good.”

Seulgi would burst into flames of embarrassment were she not terrified. “Wh-what!?”

“I’m so hungry,” Joohyun exhaled and— Seulgi was pretty sure that was a tongue sliding up her neck.

“Joohyun!” Seulgi called at the same time as she pushed her back by the shoulders. Joohyun stumbled back, and now— Now she could see Joohyun’s state better.

The sight of Joohyun made Seulgi completely forget she was supposed to be mortified. Her pretty white social button down shirt was stained with red all over, and from the coppery smell tickling her nostrils, Seulgi knew it was blood. Joohyun’s eyes were glazed over, her hair and clothes damp and caked with mud. It was like Joohyun had just returned from a swamp where she’d wrestled an alligator and won.

If that was the case, she didn’t want to see how the alligator had fared. Poor thing.

“Joohyun, what happened to you?” Seulgi asked again, gripping Joohyun’s arms urgently. “Are you hurt, are you—?”

“I’m _hungry,_ ” Joohyun repeated, her eyes gleaming as she stared into Seulgi’s own. It was like Joohyun could see into her very soul, like she could find out all her secrets.

Seulgi was shaking uncontrollably, a fear like nothing she’d ever felt before pulsing through her veins, poisoning her bloodstream. She didn’t know what to do, what to say, what to _think_. So she did her best to try and go along with it, shaking and crying as she was, and nodded at her roommate.

“Alright, alright, I— I can make you something to eat, I can reheat the leftovers and—”

“ _Hungry,_ ” Joohyun hissed and lunged at her again, biting the air just next to Seulgi’s neck when she instinctively jerked away. Her teeth closed with such force it echoed in the kitchen.

“Ok! Ok, ok, you’re hungry, but I’m not food!” Seulgi said as she pushed Joohyun away from her, trying to sound stern when all she wanted was to crumble to the floor and cry. “You can’t eat me!”

Joohyun narrowed her eyes dangerously at Seulgi, another wave of shivers rushing through her body. Holding up her hands in both a sign of peace and to indicate to Joohyun she should stay put, Seulgi slowly began to inch closer to the fridge, not taking her eyes off Joohyun, afraid to even blink. She almost slipped on the spilled yogurt, wobbling a bit but managing not to fall by holding on to the fridge’s door. Joohyun was still staring at her, unblinking. Waiting.

“Okay,” she said, shaky, breathy, as she lowered herself to reach inside the fridge. “There’s— There’s fruit, look, apples, yo-you want some apples?” She asked, uncertain, holding one apple up towards Joohyun. Joohyun didn’t move. Seulgi put the apple back. “Th-then cake? There’s cake, I was saving it for tomorrow, but you can have it!” Joohyun didn’t react again, and Seulgi decided to heed her instincts no matter how weird they were.

She pulled from the fridge a yellow Tupperware container, cheerful daisies drawn all around the sides and lid of it, and how out of place it was, something so cute and normal in the middle of a situation that was anything but cute or normal. She struggled to open it as she was shaking so hard, one of her nails chipping with the force she put into the task, when she finally opened the container to reveal the red, blood-soaked cut of meat inside. It was to be their dinner the next night, and Seulgi had been looking forward to having grilled meat, but if letting that go would keep her from becoming Joohyun’s meal, she was happy to never eat meat again.

Joohyun immediately jumped at the meat, tearing it out of the container with her hands and burying her face in it. Seulgi felt sick to her stomach, nauseous at the sound of crunching and squelching as Joohyun ate, _feasted_ on that piece of raw beef, her already dirty hands stained with the blood from the meat. Seulgi dropped the Tupperware just as her legs gave out, falling sitting on the yogurt covered floor, so scared she didn’t register the cold on her skin, frigid yogurt soaking the fabric of the pajama shorts she was wearing.

The cut of meat disappeared in a matter of minutes and Joohyun was left licking her fingers, trying to consume each and every drop of blood she could while Seulgi only watched, transfixed, terrified. When Joohyun’s eyes turned to her, Seulgi was absolutely certain she was next, a certainty that only grew as Joohyun crawled closer to her, unbothered by the sticky, pink mess that was the floor, and straddled her thighs, leaning until she was an inch away from Seulgi’s face.

“I’m still hungry,” Joohyun whispered, sounding much more like the Joohyun she knew, more in control, but something in the cadence of her voice said that it wasn’t really her anymore. Not entirely, anyway.

“I— I can go buy more meat for you, just—” Seulgi stammered, trying to get up, but Joohyun pushed her shoulder back to keep her in place.

Joohyun’s lips twisted into a side grin, white teeth bared, her eyes too bright in that dark kitchen.

“Not that kind of hungry.” 

Seulgi inhaled a little bit of oxygen and allowed Joohyun to quench her hunger.

 

***

 

The moment Seulgi walked through the door after a long day of classes, the first thing she spotted was the wide puddle of blood in the living room floor. Her immediate reaction was to sigh. They had to get rid of all the rugs and carpets for that very same reason, and no matter how many times she talked to Joohyun about it, there was no helping it - Joohyun was quite the messy eater now.

“Joohyunie?” Seulgi called, kicking off her shoes by the door and padding into their apartment towards the bathroom, where she could hear faint noises that had become too familiar.

It had been months already. She learned to accept that Joohyun had changed. She adapted accordingly.

Pushing the door of the bathroom open, Seulgi took one look upon the mess and sighed yet again. She’d given up trying to get the blood stains from the bottom of their bathtub for that exact reason.

Joohyun whipped her head around to greet with a wide smile, the bottom half of her face covered in fresh blood, hair tied up in a perky ponytail. “Seulgi! Welcome home!”

Seulgi immediately deflated from where she was getting exasperated and returned the smile. “Hey.” She then pointed over her shoulder with a thumb, at the living room. “You did notice you left a mess in there, right?”

“Yep, and I’ll clean it up as soon as I’m done here.” Joohyun nodded. “Give me— Maybe ten minutes?”

Seulgi could only agree, stepping inside the bathroom to give her roommate-turned-demon-turned-girlfriend a quick kiss at the top of her head. “Alright. You should hurry up, we have that party tonight.”

“Of course, when am I ever late?” Joohyun said and tossed her hair back, turning her attention to the half-eaten man inside the bathtub.

Seulgi didn’t answer to that, memories of the first and last time Joohyun was ever late flashing through her mind. Saying nothing more, she left the bathroom, making sure to close the door behind her, and moved to her room.

She knew in her heart of hearts that one day, maybe in a week or in ten years, Joohyun would be powerless to fight the entity that now resided inside her body, and when that day came, Seulgi would be the one lying lifeless in a bathtub, the love of her life feasting on her flesh with bliss in her eyes.

Until then, she would enjoy having the woman of her dreams by her side, demon or no demon; nobody’s perfect, after all.

**Author's Note:**

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